Katrin Bacic

Katrin Bacic is the new CEO of ambitious European startup UNIO. The company announced the appointment, March 1. UNIO’s goal is to build a commercial satellite constellation for high-speed, high-performance and high-secure connectivity with a main focus on enabling new products and services in the mobility industry. In the European automotive sector alone, the market volume of satellite communications is estimated at around 14 billion euros ($14.84 billion) by 2030, it says.

Prior to joining UNIO, Bacic was managing director and chief strategy Opficer (CSO) of Wayra Germany from 2018 to 2023, where she led all of the company’s startup programs. Under her leadership, the company increased the proportion of women-led startups in its portfolio to one-third. Bacic has also held various management positions at Telefónica for over 13 years, primarily in the areas of business development and innovation.

UNIO is one of the interesting new companies emerging on the European space scene. It was founded in Munich in 2022. It is a joint venture of Isar Aerospace, Reflex Aerospace, Mynaric, and SES. The company is working to provide “ultra-secure broadband connectivity services for mobile and stationary applications.”

“Satellite communications is one of the most exciting but also most dynamic technology stories of our time. I am therefore very excited and proud to tackle this challenge with the strong UNIO team, which brings together the most innovative players in space under one roof. Together, we will launch a first demo mission into space in 2025. Our goal is to start building the final infrastructure in 2026 in order to offer the first commercial services as early as the following year. That’s record speed,” Bacic said in a statement.